harman



(No Modei.)

-- S. S. HARMAN.

CUSHION AND GUARD FOR PEN HOLDERS. I No. 344,961. Patented July 6, 1886.

llairrn- STATES FFICE ATENT STEPHEN S. HARMAN, OF N El/V YORK, N. Y.

-PECEFTQATIEQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,961, dated July 6, 1886.

Application filed April 20, 1886. ScrialNo.199,5G7. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN S. HARMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New York, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Combined Cushion and Guard for Pen-Holders and Brush-Handles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device which may be readily applied to pen-holders or brush-handles which Vary considerably in size, and which not only forms an elastic cushion or hearing for the fingers and thumb, but also serves to prevent or stop the flow of ink or fluid along that part-ofthepen-holder orbrushhandle which is held by the hand, and which also will prevent the pen or brush from rolling off an inclined surface.

The invention consists in a combined cushion and guard for a pen-holder or brush-handle, consisting of an expansible tubular sleeve of soft india rubber, provided at the end with an outwardly-projecting flange integral with the sleeve, and also of soft and flexible india-rubber, whereby it will yield readily to the pressure of the fingers.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a pen-holder with my improved cushion. and guard applied, representing the holder as laid down on a horizontal flat surface, and showing how the pen is raised up from said surface, which is designated by a line, a. Fig. 2 represents a central longitudinal section of the cushion and guard, and Fig. 8 is a front end view of the same.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A designates the pen-holder, andB O designate the cushion and guard, which consists of a tube or sleeve, B,having at the front end the polygonal flange O, forming the guard. The cushion is made of soft vulcanized india-rubher, all in one piece. The interior of the sleeve B is made of a caliber somewhat smaller than the exterior of the holder or handle on which it is to be used, in order that it may require to be expanded by the holder or handle when the latter enters the sleeve, and that 'it may, when brought to the proper place thereon, retain itself thereon by its contractile elasticity.

The cushion and guard, being made of soft india-rubber, is elastic enough to adapt itself to holders of various sizes within certain limits. The polygonal or polyhedral flange 0 may have any number of sides that will present a sufficient bearing to prevent the holder or handle from rolling when laid on an inclined desk-top.

I am aware that a pen-holder has been provided with a fixed projecting polyhedral flange, which formed a rigid non-adjustable part of the holder, and which could only be applied to aholder of the exact size for which it was intended, the said flange serving to prevent the holder from rolling off an inclined surface. .Not only was this flange unaccompanied by any tubular sleeve or cushion, but it formed a hard and rigid abutment, against which the ends of the fingers might bear when the holder was grasped in the hand, and which necessitated the backward movement of the fingers on the handle. or holder in order to clear said flange.

I am also aware that it is not new to provide a holder with a rigid tubular sleeve which is destitute of aflange and has inclined surfaces extending throughout its length, in order that the holder may be held more conveniently when writing; but such sleeve was not made of soft india-rubber and was not readily expansible to fit different sizes of penholders.

I do not desire to include in my invention either of the devices above referredto as old. Not only is the flange or guard of myimproved device made integral with the expansible sleeve, but it is made of soft and flexible indiarubber, and will therefore yield to the ends of the fingers if the latter are pressed against it, and will not necessitate the adjustment of the fingers on the holder in order that their ends may clear the flange, as would a flange an outwardly-projecting flange integral with w i made of hard and .rigid material and nonthe sleeve, and also of soft and flexible indiayielding. rubber, whereby said flange will yield readily What I claim as my invention, and desire to to the pressure of the fingers, substantially as 5 secure by Letters Patent, isherein set forth.

The combined cushion and guard herein STEPHEN S. HARM-AN. described for a pen'holder or brush-handle, Witnesses: consisting of an expansible tubular sleeve of JOHN A. LINDSAY,

soft india-rubber, provided at the end with JOHN P. SOHAN. 

